Abstract
The college and university presidency is one of the most coveted positions in academe. Due to the projected retirements of current Historically Black College and University (HBCU) presidents, the researchers interviewed 21 current presidents, institutional board members, and presidential search firm personnel to explore what current HBCU leadership identifies as important mentoring/mentee practices, mentoring/mentee opportunities, and professional advice for HBCU presidential aspirants to consider. The findings, based on the coding and analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews, revealed that self-awareness, focusing on the essential aspects of the job and not merely the perks, openness to being mentored and willingness to shadow a successful leader, experience in serving in various administrative capacities, participating in professional leadership development activities, earning of a terminal degree, displaying humility, understanding academic politics, and learning how to present oneself as an executive is important in the preparation of a leader of an HBCU.
Highlights
Institutional leadership is a topic of interest for various higher education stakeholders
All study participants highlighted the importance of mentoring in the success of aspiring presidents, they differed in experiences with formal and informal mentoring practices
Being able to have seamless transitions as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) leadership retires will prove important in achieving said sustainability
Summary
Institutional leadership is a topic of interest for various higher education stakeholders. Policy-makers, college administrators, students, alumni, and many other constituencies are facilitating discussions around the selection and performance of college and university presidents. Within the landscape of higher education, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) have experienced challenges in the recruitment and retention of presidents [1]. One sector that has been experiencing these challenges is Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). High presidential turnover and a growing number of aging presidents matched with shrinking funding and resources have HBCU stakeholders concerned regarding the presidential pipeline for this institutional type. When considering that a large percentage of non-white college presidents are currently leading Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), being able to identify and fortify the HBCU presidential pipeline proves important for the diversity of college and university presidents
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